For some time, my favorite word to study has been the Greek word thlipsis. It has a broad range of meanings and applications. It literally means “pressure,” and is often translated “tribulation” in the New Testament, but a few cases it refers to the “anguish” of childbirth. In verbal form it can mean “to squeeze” or “to pinch.” As an adjective it can even mean “narrow,” as in the path Jesus tells us to walk.

My fascination with this word consists mainly in the implications of seeing life as one big thlipsis. If we pray that Christ would increase, and we would decrease, it naturally follows that in answering this prayer God would put us through tight spots to help the process. He reduces us so that Christ can increase.

Some of us God might even have to put through a big, final thlipsis at the judgment if he finds us still too full of ourselves to wedge through the pearly gates. I think I’d prefer the narrow road beforehand to that eternal embarrassment.

Dennis Kinlaw says it best: “When you come across an opportunity to sacrifice yourself, to lay down your own life,  you ought not run.” What most resembles death and pain to us just may be the birth pangs of new life, the Life.

“Love is a fragile thing that  does not scale well.”

-From Culture Making by Andy Crouch.

This is from Crouches chapter on the vary small arenas where cultural creation is possible.  His numbers are 3:12:120.  While I think he is spot on with this observation, I think he could have done more to argue why this is the case rather than simply assert that it is the case is many situations.

Humans are shockingly limited in the scope of their relational capacity yet wonderfully limitless in depth.  Interestingly, I found this same observation from an unlikely source as I studied for Political Science class: “The Founders were profoundly suspicious of popular leadership as a means of soliciting power and sought to establish a forum of leadership that depended on character rather than personality. This is, of course, entirely dependent on a polity that is small enough to allow an individual’s character to be well known.” (From American Government by Matthew Kerbel.)

It is the second day of fasting. Often it is said that fasting increases spiritual awareness and focus. I can find no biblical support for this notion and I find that distractions nag at my willing mind as strong and as frequently as ever. Perhaps, however, I am simply more aware of the ways in which the various scintillations that I subject myself to are a siren song making shipwreck of my faith.

Whichever it is, the clear call from God is that I must devote all my attention to him. Only when I am “all ears” will I have the ears to hear.

“The sort of analytical, psychological,   sociological, or neurological knowledge of the working of  another person’s mind is not in any way a step toward the knowing of  another person which we experience in love and friendship. By itself,  it could only lead us away from such knowledge. That truly personal  knowledge only becomes a possibility when I abandon the sovereign  claim of autonomous reason, the claim to know the other person  without that person’s self-communication in speech and act and gesture;   when I am ready to stop my investigations and listen, to be addressed, to be called in question, to be summoned to an adventure  of trust. Natural theology, in other words, is in no way a step on the  way toward the theology which takes God’s self-revelation as its starting  point. It is more likely, in fact, to lead in the opposite direction.”

From The Gospel in a Pluralist Society, by Lesslie Newbigin.

I have always felt a certain discomfort when I am part of some theological conversations.  It is as though all the people in these discussions are talking about God is great detail as though he were not in the room.  Imagine a whole family sitting around the dinner table, talking for hours about exactly what kind of food their father would like to eat, all the while ignoring the father sitting quietly by at the head of the table.

A parable recasts a problem into a new relational light.  We become stuck with one interpretation of life, thinking that perhaps God is unjust.  When we see the situation from afar with finger puppets instead of ourselves, however, the relational principles become clear.  David clearly understood the crime commited in Nathan’s story.  Having the ears to hear the parable involves the next and much more difficult step: realizing where the relational principle of the parable touches our own guilt.  We are the people who beat the kings servants, hide our single mina and refuse the invitation to the wedding.  The pharisees were the pharisees precisely because they knew for certain that the point of the parable was leveled at everyone but them.

Father asks a lot.  He begins by calling us to a particular path in life.  Particular actions and habits clustered in themes.  Occasionally he is generous enough to explain where it all is going.  Often enough we are left with a simple command: study Latin, for instance.  it is not enough, however, to simply obey this command.

If I study Latin, soon I find myself needing motivation.  To accomplish a task, like learning another language thoroughly, one needs to commit himself to often boring labor over a period of years.  Motivation is needed to commence study every morning.  The form that this motivation takes can become a sort of idol.  Although I began my study of Latin because Father told me to, I study it every day because I am driven by the fantasy of my own intellectualism.

If this is my heart, I have not truly obeyed.  Father does ask for obedience in action, but he goes further and also asks for obedience in motivation.  Why should I study Latin today?  Because it makes my Father smile.

“Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need.” –Philippians 3:11-12

I’ve always wondered a little about this passage. Paul claims to know a secret; a secret that enables him to live in perfect contentment. If the world knew this secret, all of humanity’s agony would cease. And yet, Paul neglects to let us in on this little mystery. He doesn’t tell us where to find the buried treasure or the fountain of youth. He doesn’t give us a 12 step program or a self-actualization pep-talk. Sure he tells us that he can do all things through Christ who strengthens him in the very next verse, but it seems to me that if the secret were as simple as Christ doing the strengthening, there wouldn’t be so many Christians complaining. (more…)

I thought I would share with everyone a hymn that I wrote about a year ago. I wrote it during a family studies class while I was thinking about how many modern worship songs have left meaningful words in favor of a catchy repeatable chorus. I return to it now, because I was thinking about some of the same issues again. I’d love comments and if anyone wants to actually write music to go with the words, that would be great.

Praise to the Father King, my lover and my judge.
What wrath He ought to owe; how great His mercy shown.
But oh what joy and sorrow, to see Him hanging there.
The Prince of Glory’s blood paid what I could not bear.

By His law I am condemned. By His grace I’m saved.
Oh His spirit I have hungered. Oh His life I’ve craved.
Now in His resurrection, I find my soul fulfilled.
To see my sins forgiven is to watch my lover killed.

Oh He rules in perfect justice. How He’s shown his perfect love.
Who deserves to be His child? Who has earned their crown above?
But a cry is in the desert; joy is found in tearful eye.
For God has seen the lowly, and sent His lamb to die.

His pain was not to please us, but to draw us unto Him.
His death was not to hinder, but to do away with sin.
Oh you wretched generation, that would greet this grace with pride.
Come to Him low and humble, come to the cross and die.

I realize that I can often give a rather unbalanced view of God on this site. I often portray the holiness of God and his expectations of us much more than I talk about his grace and mercy. This is largely reactionary. What I see in the culture around me is an unbalanced perspective on the side of God’s love and forgiveness. However, my reactionary unbalance can be just as harmful as the other extreme. In my life I cherish the mercy and grace of my father. Without his forgiveness I have nothing. I am constantly amazed when I come into the presence and God and commune with him. I am amazed when he blesses me, rather than destroying me. Based on the things that I have done against him, he has every right to condemn me, but shockingly I find forgiveness. (more…)

Judgment is a common theme in the Bible, but one that we are hesitant to talk about today. When judgment is brought up in conversation people end up feeling awkward. They generally feel, well… judged. The fact is that we will all be judged one day by a perfect Judge. We try to ignore this fact or rework it to make us feel more comfortable, but sooner or later we must stop and face this truth. When Paul preached the gospel in Athens he told them, “the times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent, because he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed.” If this is the case, then it is important for us to know how we will be judged. (more…)